Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
New Bedford Public Schools elections (2015)
2017 →
← 2013
|
 |
Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links |
New Bedford Public Schools Bristol County, Massachusetts ballot measures Local ballot measures, Massachusetts |
 |
Three seats on the New Bedford Public Schools School Committee were up for general election on November 3, 2015. Incumbents Bruce Oliveira and Joaquim Livramento won re-election, while Christopher Cotter joined the board.
The seats of incumbents Livramento, Oliveira and Marlene Pollock were up for election.[1][2] Livramento and Oliveira filed for re-election, while Pollock announced that she would not seek re-election. The incumbents faced Cotter, Celia Dos Santos, George Rogers and Warley Williams in the general election.[3]
One of the six candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 school board candidate survey. Check out the "What was at stake?" section to see survey answers.
About the district
New Bedford Public Schools is located in southeast Massachusetts in Bristol County. The county seat is Taunton. This county was home to 552,780 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau.[4] In the 2011-2012 school year, New Bedford Public Schools was the eighth-largest school district in Massachusetts and served 12,551 students.[5]
Demographics
Bristol County underperformed compared to the rest of Massachusetts in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 25.3 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 39.4 percent for Massachusetts as a whole. The median household income in Bristol County was $55,298, compared to $66,866 for the state of Massachusetts. The poverty rate was 12.4 percent, compared to 11.4 percent for the entire state.[4]
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Voter and candidate information
The New Bedford School Committee consists of seven members, six of whom are elected at large to four-year terms. The seventh member and chairman is the Mayor of New Bedford. A primary election was scheduled for October 6, 2015, but was unnecessary as no more than two candidates filed per seat up for election. The general election was held on November 3, 2015.
Individuals interested in running for the board began obtaining nominating papers on May 22, 2015. The deadline to submit nomination papers for signature certification for the 2015 general election was August 18.[7]
Elections
2015
Candidates
At-large
Bruce Oliveira 
|
Joaquim Livramento
|
Christopher Cotter
| |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Celia Dos Santos | George Rogers | Warley Williams | |||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Election results
| New Bedford School Committee, At-large, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Bruce Oliveira Incumbent |
22.2% | 6,064 |
| Joaquim Livramento Incumbent |
21.4% | 5,849 |
| Christopher Cotter |
18.7% | 5,105 |
| Warley Williams | 12.9% | 3,526 |
| George Rogers | 12.8% | 3,507 |
| Celia Dos Santos | 11.7% | 3,211 |
| Write-in votes | 0.3% | 81 |
| Total Votes | 27,343 | |
| Source: New Bedford Election Commission, "Unofficial Results," November 3, 2015 | ||
Endorsements
No official endorsements were made in this election.
Campaign finance
The New Bedford Election Commission does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013General election
Primary election
2011
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What was at stake?
2015
Ballotpedia survey responses
One candidate out of six total candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following section displays the responses to the survey questions from at-large candidate Warley Williams.
Top priorities
When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, Williams stated:
| “ |
My top priority would be to persuade the Superintendent and Committee to develop a school safety, security, and discipline framework at the middle and high schools.[8] |
” |
| —Warley Williams, (2015), [9] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidates were asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays the candidates' rankings from most to least important:
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Massachusetts. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Issue | Williams |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving college readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
Positions on the issues
The candidates were asked to answer 10 multiple and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. A link to the candidates' responses can be found below.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the New Bedford Public Schools election in 2015:[2]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| May 22, 2015 | First day for candidates to take out nomination documents |
| August 18, 2015 | Last day for candidates to file nomination documents with the New Bedford Board of Election Commissioners for signature certification |
| September 4, 2015 | Last day for candidates to withdraw or for objections to nominations |
| September 16, 2015 | Last day to register to vote in the primary election |
| September 28, 2015 | Last day for candidates to file first campaign finance report |
| October 6, 2015 | Primary election day |
| October 14, 2015 | Last day to register to vote in the general election |
| October 26, 2015 | Last day for candidates to file second campaign finance report |
| November 3, 2015 | Election Day |
| January 20, 2016 | Last day for candidates to file final campaign finance report |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Massachusetts elections, 2015
This election shared the ballot with races for the New Bedford City Council.[10]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms New Bedford Public Schools Massachusetts. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| New Bedford Public Schools | Massachusetts | School Boards |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ New Bedford Public Schools, "New Bedford School Committee," accessed March 13, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Daniel Anderson, "Fax correspondence with the New Bedford Election Commission," March 11, 2015
- ↑ South Coast Today, "Who's running for office in New Bedford?" August 18, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 United States Census Bureau, "Bristol County, Massachusetts," accessed January 26, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 22, 2014
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of State, "Enrollment Breakdown as of 2/15/2012," accessed November 18, 2013
- ↑ New Bedford Election Commission, "State and Local Election Calendar," accessed September 8, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Warley Williams's responses," October 17, 2015
- ↑ City of Lawrence, Massachusetts, "2015 CITY NOMINATION PAPERS CERTIFICATION," accessed September 18, 2015
| 2015 New Bedford Public Schools Elections | |
| Bristol County, Massachusetts | |
| Election date: | Primary election: October 6, 2015 General election: November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Joaquim Livramento • Incumbent, Bruce Oliveira • Christopher Cotter • Celia Dos Santos • George Rogers • Warley Williams |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
